obscurity in one place, the Holy Ghost, which is never contrary
to Himself, explains the same more clearly in other places, so that there
can remain no doubt but unto such as obstinately remain ignorant."(368)

Such were the truths that the fearless Reformer, at the peril of his life,
spoke in the ear of royalty. With the same undaunted courage he kept to
his purpose, praying and fighting the battles of the Lord, until Scotland
was free from popery.

In England the establishment of Protestantism as the national religion
diminished, but did not wholly stop, persecution. While many of the
doctrines of Rome had been renounced, not a few of its forms were
retained. The supremacy of the pope was rejected, but in his place the
monarch was enthroned as the head of the church. In the service of the
church there was still a wide departure from the purity and simplicity of
the gospel. The great principle of religious liberty was not as yet
understood. Though the horrible cruelties which Rome employed against
heresy were resorted to but rarely by Protestant rulers, yet the right of
every man to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience
was not acknowledged. All were required to accept the doctrines and
observe the forms of worship prescribed by the established church.
Dissenters suffered persecution, to a greater or less extent, for hundreds
of years.

In the seventeenth century thousands of pastors were expelled from their
positions. The people were forbidden, on pain of heavy fines,
imprisonment, and banishment, to attend any religious meetings except such
as were sanctioned by the church. Those faithful souls who could not
refrain from gathering to worship God, were compelled to meet in dark
alleys, in obscure garrets, and at some seasons in the woods at midnight.
In the sheltering depths of the forest, a temple of God's own building,
those scattered and persecuted children of the Lord assembled to pour out
their souls in prayer and praise. But despite all their precautions, many
suffered for their faith. The jails were crowded. Families were broken up.
Many were banished to foreign lands. Yet God was with His people, and
persecution could not prevail to silence their testimony. Many were driven
across the ocean to America, and here laid the foundations of civil and
religious liberty which have been the bulwark and glory of this country.

Again, as in apostolic days, persecution turned out to the furtherance